Dual Carriageway Etiquette

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Wed 4 Jun 2003 11:11
Dual Carriageway Etiquette - Robin
A bit of a bugbear of mine this. What does anyone else think?

Near us is an urban dual carriageway with a small retail park on one side. If you are heading into town and want to go into the park you have to drive past it to a gap in the central reservation and do a U turn back onto the other carriageway and then a left into the park. The gap in the carriageway is traffic light controlled so this is a perfectly legal manouvere. The gap is also rather wide and can accommodate 2 cars side by side. There is also a sort of short slip road thing on the dual carriageway to allow a small queue to form.

Now, what annoys me is when I stop at the light another car will almost invariably come and stop next to me. More or less the only reason to stop in this gap is to go into the retail park and since the distance from the gap to the entrance is short it oftens results in some cutting up.

Is it Ok to stop in this side by side manner?

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Wed 4 Jun 2003 21:07
Dual Carriageway Etiquette - smokie
I'd say side by side stopping is OK, if there is space to do so. I'm guessing that the road designer was attempting to ensure as much stationery traffic was taken off the main carriageway as possible.

However, the cutting up is a different issue and revolves around the lack of courtesy which people assume when behind the wheel of their car. My rule of thumb is that if I arrived at the stop line first, then I have first dibs at getting away. If I'm second, then I let the other guy go. Seems to work most of the time.
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 04:04
Dual Carriageway Etiquette - THe Growler
I didn't know there was such a need for envelopes, paper and other office supplies across the nation that it was important to minimise stationery traffic. Sorry, can't resist it, still in teacher-mode from Growlette's latest lesson....
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 05:01
Dual Carriageway Etiquette - Rudolf
Don't be too hard on a slip of the finger in typescript, Growler. There once arrived here a package of books, the printed label on which read THE STATIONARY OFFICE!
Rudolf
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 08:49
Dual Carriageway Etiquette - Andy P
Almost all the junctions I see of this type have lane markings to indicate that the road is for two lanes of traffic. Where the slip road is wider than a single lane but without markings then technically it is a single lane. The reason it is made wider than normal is so that HGVs can turn without ending up on the kerb on the other side of the road - the extra width gives them space to pull into.



Andy
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 10:51
Dual Carriageway Etiquette - Robin
Thanks Andy - I had wondered about why it was so wide. There are no road markings to indicate 2 lanes so I guess it is strictly only one lane.

Growler: How prescient of you - how did you know that there was a stationery shop on the park for all the stationary traffic to aim for.

Actually, this is quite an interesting piece of road: within about 300 yards there is the retail park, a large fire station, an ambulance station, a major 4 way junction and a driving test centre (not all on the same side of the road). At rush hour when it is all blocked up and a fire engine comes out it's great fun. Mind you, the fire engines don't turn round in the infamous gap - they drive about a half mile to a roundabout in order to turn and come back.
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 13:57
Dual Carriageway Etiquette - THe Growler
Saw through that one Robin. I mean it couldn't be a mobile stationary shop now could it?
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